Breathless
Chapter 17: Dangerous and Moving
"Gou, how much is your tolerance for pain?"
"Ehm, w-whatever! All-whatever. Why are you asking that question?"
"Maybe it's gonna hurt a little bit! But I'll do a little surgery without doing anesthesia!"
The three men inside the room were completely shocked by what Taiga said. Especially Gou, his eyes glared in fear. What was Taiga thinking exactly? He often sees Hollywood action films where players practice the process of spending bullets by prying it with a sterilized knife, but imagine if he is in their position at this time, gou never expected it at all. Is it true that he can withstand the pain when the process of removing bullets is done? He was too horrified to imagine what would happen next.
"Taiga! Don't make jokes at times like this!" shinosuke looked at Taiga expectantly if what the doctor said was just a bad joke made to ease the tension they were feeling right now.
"Do I look like I'm joking in front of you, Shinosuke?" taiga said with a very serious face that made Shinosuke unable to speak anymore.
"DAMN YOU TAIGA! Just do what you can now!" tekik Shinosuke already had no other choice, he just wished all of this would end quickly.
Taiga then prepared everything to carry out the emergency operation. The doctor then asks Chase and Shinosuke to hold Gou properly. Without anesthesia, Taiga assures Gou that it is impossible to remain silent. He will rebel with all his might.
"Hey Gou! You have to bite this towel to withstand the pain" Taiga said with a more serious face and gave Gou a folded towel adjusting the width of the brown curly-haired man's mouth.
"Well, we don't want your molars to be crushed by the forceful snapping of your teeth while enduring the pain!" taiga then gave a warning to Gou.
"Just DO IT TAIGA!" exclaimed Gou half-strangled then bit the towel in despair.
"All right! Well, you're very lucky the bullet didn't penetrate too deep, so the pain definitely won't be too pronounced! I wish!" taiga tried to calm Gou, whose breath was increasingly hunting because of nervousness.
"Okay, this Gou will go fast! Hold it!" taiga then began the process of dispensing bullets in Gou's arms.
"ARRGGGHGHHHHH!!!" A hysterical scream just came out of Gou's mouth in pain. He bit his towel even tighter and his rebellious body trembled after the pain had plagued him. Shinosuke and Chase hold Gou's rebellious body wild⎯ with great difficulty.
"**** YOU TAIGA!" Taiga only smiled wryly hearing Gou start cursing in pain. It's just one bullet. Unfortunately he still had to remove shrapnel from the projectile in some places. Either Gou still had the energy to curse him again or not. Obviously this is going to be a very long process.
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The clock is ticking, now the sound is louder than before. If previously the room was dominated by moans of pain and frustration coming out of Gou's mouth, now all that was heard was the sigh of fatigue from the impromptu occupants of the emergency room.
The three of them were now able to sigh more freely than before. The operation went well. Taiga has succeeded in removing the projectile contained in Gou's arm even though it had to be with a struggle that is not easy.
Taiga, Shinosuke and Chase sat leaning against the wall of the emergency room. They try to replenish their energy that was drained due to the process. Shinosuke is unceasingly grateful to Taiga for helping Gou. At least Shinosuke can breathe a sigh of relief because his wife's sister can still be saved.
Gou whose power has been drained because the process is now asleep. They couldn't blame him for falling asleep in an emergency like this. After the cries of pain that echoed in the room, Gou deserved to get his rest time faster.
After they rid themselves of the sweat and blood that had been attached to the emergency operation, Taiga and Chase began to check their weapons again. While Shinosuke approached the table where he left the communication tools used to communicate and began installing communication tools that he had canceled. Of course he needed information about the circumstances of his other comrades.
"Shinosuke! Shinosuke!" there was a voice calling from the communication device that Shinosuke had just installed.
Shinosuke immediately replied "Yes, Shinosuke is here! How's it going in there?"
Instantly Shinosuke made an expression as if he had just heard something he did not expect. His face stiffened, his eyes widened with his pupils. The look of frightened eyes clearly loomed on his face.
"Oh no! Oh no! How can?!" shinosuke's exclaimed suffocation attracted the attention of Taiga and Chase.
"What's Shinosuke?" Chase immediately asked when he heard Shinosuke's significant voice change. He could conclude that this was not a good thing to hear.
"Someone's been shot!" Shinosuke answered in a choked voice and turned to Taiga and Chase. Leaving them both with question mark full expressions.
But as soon as Shinosuke said a name. The facial expressions of Chase and Taiga stiffened with an instant. They looked at the choked Shinosuke, as if the detective was saying a forbidden word⎯a word they didn't want to hear.
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Kuroto was watching the situation outside the warehouse carefully. The flames created from the grenade thrown by Shotaru began to tame⎯ did not smolder like the first time the explosion occurred. Only a small, unsatisfied fire devoured the remains of the burning vehicle debris and the suffocating black smoke of the lungs demanding fresh air.
"Uhuk! Uhuk!" Kuroto occasionally coughed due to the smoke that appeared due to the explosion earlier. Simply stifling and making heat sense it has.
Kuroto's eyes combed through the warehouse's location once again. Still in a standby position with a rifle in his grip he approached the main door of the warehouse and stood right in front of the door that had been shot destroyed by Shinosuke's shotgun. He realized that the results of their struggle earlier caused a lot of damage in the front yard of the main door of the warehouse. Even what they had done had cost the injured victims quite a lot. Now he looked at the victims lying just about anywhere in the warehouse area. Kuroto let out a long sigh, at least they just fainted and didn't just die.
Kuroto then scrunched his forehead. There was something very strange in his mind. The explosion is quite loud and the fire and smoke puff created should be able to attract the attention of many people. Surprisingly, no police, citizens or medics came to them. Is it so isolated where they are now? Or is there not a single person who dared to approach this place.
Just as Kuroto was struggling with her thoughts about what was happening, her listener's senses were tingled. He was like hearing the sound of the engine roaring along with the strong wind that came whistling the remaining fire until it was extinguished. He looked up at the sky following the voice that had caught the attention of his ears.
Both of Kuroto's visual senses widened full of shock. A helicopter descended near the location of Date's warehouse. Kuroto does not know who the helicopter belongs to, but his instincts say the helicopter does not bring help to his side and it makes Kuroto swallow because of anxiety. Could this be a bad sign for their side?
"Oh God! This is not good!" Kuroto took a long step looking for a hiding place then took a standby position with his rifle.
Anyone who shows up later. Enemy or friend, Kuroto will not relax his vigilance. Being careless means suicide.
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"Ride, Kiriya. You better find Emu's whereabouts now!" whispered Shotaru to the two people who were next to him now. You must be found immediately. They need to get him out of here as soon as possible.
"Where are you Shotaru? We can't leave you alone with the guy⎯what was his name?" pallad asked with an expression that changed drastically from serious to a little confused.
"Jevo!" Chirps Kiriya while rolling her eyes.
"Oh, Fujita! There's no way we'll let you get beat up by him!" pallad added with a tone full of worry. He is certain that Fujita will not make it easy for Shotaru once he finds out that Shotaru is a traitor.
"Oh, you guys care about me too huh? I'll be fine" Shotaru half-jokingly tried not to show his anxiety to his two colleagues.
"Are you sure?" kiriya asked again to make sure Shotaru was not rash in making a decision.
"100%! I'm an agent, it's not that easy to get killed! Just trust me!" shotaru said as he threw a forced smile, so that his two colleagues believe and follow what he asked.
"Are you done with your useless chat?" sidelines Fujita with a mocking expression and a dismissive smile without removing his gun towards Shotaru.
"Go! Hurry along!" shotaru orders Kiriya and Pallad who are still hesitant to step up, especially seeing Fujita still pointing a gun at them. Who knows if Fujita suddenly fired his shot when they stepped on one leg. They were unwilling to commit any reckless actions that would endanger everyone's lives.
"Where do you think you're going?" fujita exclaimed with sharp glittering eyes as Pallad and Kiriya tried to shift slightly away from Shotaru.
"Yourjita! Your opponent is me!" shotaru exclaimed forward towards Fujita trying to distract the burly man from Pallad and Kiriya.
"You think you can fight me alone Shotaru?" Fujita let out a dark laugh and mocked him to Shotaru. He knows better than anything, if Shotaru can't possibly survive his grasp. Fighting Fujita alone is like taking his life willingly.
"Are you afraid of confronting me Fujita?" Shotaru attempts to provoke Fujita.
"Or are you not sure if the men can handle them both? Is that your opinion of your two men?" Shotaru's getting more emotional from Fujita. He wants Fujita to get angry and become focused on him and let Pallad and Kiriya go.
"Both of your friends are nothing with them assholes!" firm Fujita with a reddened face filled with anger. For him his two mainstay men could not have easily been defeated by two inexperienced men about the real fight.
"Then why don't you let the two of them pass by?" shotaru ketus.
"I don't want any fight to happen in front of Houjou-sama's eyes, if you want to know the reason! Especially⎯" firmly Fujita did not budge from where he stood even more alert.
"Especially if Houjou-sama is forced to see his two friends being killed in front of his eyes. I'm not gonna let that happen. Houjou-sama should not see such a thing" he added, leaving Kiriya, Pallad and Shotaru stunned.
"You're just looking for excuses, aren't you? it's just your excuse to cover up reality if you're weak!" shotaru still tries to provoke Fujita's anger and let him off guard.
"Hmm, Shinosuke? Isn't what he said right? Emu better not see what we're doing right now. I'm sure he won't agree and gets very angry seeing us do this all" Kiriya whispered to Shotaru.
Fujita's statement has a point. You don't deserve to see all the fighting going on right now. His mental condition will be more and more messy and will make his emotions more chaotic. Pallad, who had listened, nodded his head and confirmed Kiriya's words.
"I know Kiriya! But do we have another choice?" Shotaru shook his head and felt that they already had no other choice. They have now intervened too deeply, no detours or returns have been found.
"DAMNIT!" Kiriya who realized that there was no other way could only curse in annoyance. There was no other choice, it should have been what he had realized when deciding to do this.
"Quick move NOW!" shotaru exclaimed raising his tone to Kiriya and Pallad.
The two men finally obeyed Shotaru's words and began to move towards the second floor staircase where Emu's room was located. Fujita reacted⎯he immediately opened fire on the two men with just anyone. Pallad and Kiriya lowered their heads and rolled away from the shot fired by Fujita's pistol.
Shotaru unhesitatingly opened fire on the weapon used by Fujita. Making the gun that Fujita used detach and fall to the ground.
"You're challenging me Shotaro?" said Fujita then turned towards Shotaro with a sharp look.
"You think you can get away with it!" fujita exclaimed as she pulled out another gun she had. Not only one, now both his hands had nimbly held two revolvers and aimed right at Shotaru and the two Shotaru comrades who had just dodged his shot.
"No one of you should approach Houjou-sama!" with a sour face.
"No one!" he shouted while opening another shot towards the three without mercy.
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*Wishing, hopping, chasing shadows
Did I see your face somewhere in the crowd
Thinking, wondering, what you're doing
I can stop myself from crying out loud
They say my will heal and only leave a scar
But then, they'd never shared our love
Disillusion, disillusion's all you left for me
ABBA - Disillusion*