(Y/n)'s POV
Fear embraced my heart in a sickly sweet grasp. No one moved a muscle lest she decided against waiting. Joe seemed strained, barely avoid to keep his anger bottled up with no opening to vent.
"Give me this man and I'll let you all go unharmed," Shizuo exclaimed.
"In your dreams."
"I'll have you killed too, girl. I despise your attitude."
"Thank you."
"What do you want?" Kenta asked.
"To kill him," Shizuo seethed.
"If you had me instead, would that satisfy you?"
"(Y/n), hell no!" Joe, Jun and Reki retorted simultaneously.
"Kaoru's one of my favourite people. I'll tear down anyone who tries to hurt any one of my family...but we have no choice. I'd rather die than run away and leave a friend to fend off the wolves alone."
Cherry glared at me, willing me to back down but it would take much more than a stern scolding to lock me away. Reki took my hand before I felt another take my other. Langa's ice blue eyes met my gaze.
"(Y/n), you're still there. I'd recognise that fierce girl anywhere," he whispered.
I almost faltered. I swallowed. Ruka's threatening words seeped into my mind. My heart was a whirlwind of chaos. Suddenly, a glint caught my eye. Ryota was hidden behind a few beams suspended from one end of the ceiling to the other.
He held a finger to his lips. More heads popped out from the shadows of the beams. When and how had they slipped inside? Through the rooftop? I flashed Shizuo a predatory smile. Her eyes narrowed.
"I have an idea."
"I don't like the look in your eyes. It reminds me of your uncle when he mercilessly killed his enemies," she replied.
"That's good to know. I think it'll be interesting if we leave Kaoru in your care."
"What game are you playing at?"
"I'm talking business, your majesty. Do you really have the nerve to torture my uncle's old friend? You know he had a lot of enemies but he also had allies. Powerful allies."
"You're such a naive little girl if you think I don't have the conviction to hurt a single person just because I'm scared of the possible consequences."
That was when Ryota and his men jumped down to ambush our enemies. I was pushed to the ground as gunshots rang out throughout the building. My breathing became short and shallow.
"Hey (Y/n), I want you to listen to me," Reki exclaimed as he cupped my face.
"R-Reki...it's so bad."
"I know, but everything'll be fine. Trust me."
"But-"
"(Y/n), focus on me. We need you to fight right now. You're one of our stronger fighters. We need to free Cherry."
"Reki, I-"
"I need you. You're strong enough to push your fears away."
He offered a warm smile. I pulled him in for a tight hug before leaning forward to stab a knife into a guy who was about to stab him from behind. That was when I noticed the dirtied, shredded state of his shirt. He had been shielding me the entire time we were talking.
Anger and guilt gripped my vigorously beating heart. I lunged at Shizuo, grabbing the katana Ryota tossed at me. She immediately pulled out twin daggers to block my attack, her eyes flashing a hunger for blood and vengeance.
My body was moved by instinct. I wanted blood. I needed her to bleed. She was the sole reason we were in this mess. She wanted to harm my friends, my family. I drowned out the sounds from outside so that the only thing I could see and hear was Shizuo herself.
"You made a mistake coming for me alone," she hissed.
All I saw was my katana being plunged into her heart, over and over again. I couldn't think. She didn't deserve mercy. My heart began beating furiously fast when she swapped her blades for two pistols.
My body hesitated. A bullet grazed my stomach and another my cheek. My mind blanked and my body became a machine. I didn't know if anything had hurt me. I didn't care to know. I couldn't if I didn't want to freeze.
"(Y/n)!"
Who was that?
"(Y/n), snap out of it!"
I didn't want to. The vision of Shizuo being stabbed was a dream come true.
"Come on! Come back...please. (Y/n), it's me."
My eyes slowly cleared. Langa stood in front of me, his hands bleeding from holding my katana. Kenta was facing Shizuo, who had significantly more wounds than earlier. My state was not much better than hers.
Although our number in wounds was similar, I was no fool. Mine were worse, almost fatal. If this fight had continued, there was more of a chance of her winning. Strange how I could not feel the pain. All I wished was for her eternal suffering.
Langa pried the katana from my bloodied hands, tossing it to the side before hurriedly leaning forward to support me as I stumbled. My vision blurred though I forced myself to stay awake.
"You're gonna be okay," he whispered.
"I thought...you hated me..."
"...that doesn't mean you deserve to die."
"Let me see what's happening."
"(Y/n)."
"I-I'm fine. I'll be fine."
With one arm around my waist, he manoeuvred so that I could see just how Kenta's fight against Shizuo was progressing. The two had stopped. Ryota passed him a bag, which he threw to Shizuo's feet.
"Open it and see for yourself," Kenta exclaimed.
She glared at him as if her gaze could set his body aflame. We watched in silent anticipation as she moved to grab the bag. A scream erupted from her throat before she dropped it, the tip of a severed arm popping out.
"If you don't swear on your life to never harm any of my family again, I'll make sure the next one you see will be your son's head instead of his arm," Kenta seethed.
"N-no! What did you do to him?! How did you find out? I was sure I hid him away!"
"Ryota got some help from a certain someone. Now do we have a deal?"
"How can I be sure you won't kill him?"
"And incite your wrath further? I make deals, not enemies unless they set fire to our alliance."
"...tch, fine. We do. Now where's my son?"
Ria dragged forward a boy around Yuu's age with black hair and golden eyes. He immediately ran over to his mother, crying yet completely unharmed. The severed arm was a fake.
"Thank god," she cried.
"Come on, let's go," Kenta said.
Cherry met my gaze, his expression a mixture of guilt and pain. I left Langa's side and limped over to him, releasing a small whimper of relief when he hugged me back. I couldn't lose him...not anyone.
"Don't you dare scare me again. Don't you dare leave me..." I stated before all went black.