"WE HAVE TO GO!"

 

Midori had grabbed Naora by the arm and pulled her out from under Toshi. Naora was dead weight. All she was doing was staring at Toshi. Someone screamed. Someone else screamed. Naora yanked her arm away from Midori and reached for Toshi. His face was so peaceful, so relaxed.

 

Hinako grabbed Naora's hand at the wrist, "Get your hands off my brother!" Naora winced as her arm was twisted. She fell over as Hinako pushed her away. Hinako had come running over and knelt down between the two of them. Hinako looked torn between beating Naora to death and tending to her brother.

 

Toshi won.

 

Kagi was curled up in the fetal position, holding onto her leg below the knee. She was squeezing hard as blood tricked out between her fingers. She looked up at Midori and yelled, "Get Her Out Of HERE!" Naora seemed to finally register Kagi, "Oh god!" Midori knelt down and got Naora in an arm lock, "They might come back! WE have to MOVE!"

 

Hinako paid attention to none of this, instead just focusing on her brother, "Toshi?" She started to shake as she gently put a hand under his head, "Oh god toshi please wake up just please wake up oh god please wake him up you just-" She pulled Toshi into her arms and folded herself over him as she begged for a miracle.

 

Toshi moaned.

 

Hinako straightened up. Naora blinked. They both spoke in unison, "He's alive?" Neither didn't quite believe what they were saying. Midori nodded, "He's alive! Now we can go?" She yanked Naora to her feet and started to drag her away. Naora moved slowly at first, mechanically, but when Kagi shouted, "GO!" with tears rolling down her face, it sunk in that Naora was still in danger. She gave Toshi and Hinako a last glance and then broke into a run.

 

Hinako was trying to process what was happening, "Toshi? Stay with me! Oh god I-" She squeezed him and he let out a cry of pain, "FUCK!" She let him go almost immediately and pulled away, causing him to roll onto his back and let out another cry, "MOTHER FUCKER!" He immediately rolled onto his side. He let out a long, anguish-filled hiss between gritted teeth as he curled up from the pain. By this time other students had come rushing over. Two were checking on Kagi and someone was taking off their belt to make a tourniquet. Abi had been nearby and came running as soon as she heard the commotion. She knelt next Toshi, but spoke to Hinako, "He's been shot! Stop moving him!"

 

Hinako just knelt there and quivered in fear, "I-I-I don't know-" What she had just witnessed had completely derailed her mind and now Hinako was too numb to form a coherent thought. Abi was looking over Toshi and suddenly looked puzzled, "Wait..." She started to examine Toshi's backpack, "Hold on..." She unzipped it and looked inside, "Hey, Toshi. I got bad news." Toshi groaned in pain as he tried to focus on Abi's words, "What?" With a shit eating grin, Abi pulled out Toshi's ToughTop and held it in front of his eyes so he could see.

 

"I don't think your computer is gonna make it."

 

There were two huge grooves in it from where the bullets had bounced off. Suddenly it made a spark. Abi abruptly dropped it, "Crap!" She sucked on her fingers and let out a little 'ooo' sound, "That smarts!" Toshi stared at his destroyed laptop as it lay in front of him, rocking slightly because it was now bent in the middle. Toshi let out a snort, then a 'heh', then abruptly burst into pure hysterical laughter. In spite of how much it hurt, he would keep laughing right up until the paramedics arrived.

 

Hinako wouldn't make a sound.

 

---

 

The ToughTop lived up to its name.

 

Mostly.

 

It might be able to function after falling four stories, but deflecting two nine millimeter rounds was another story. Fortunately for Toshi, but unfortunately for Kagi, they were using hollow points. This meant that Toshi's backpack was shredded, but the bullets had been unlikely to penetrate his computer. Alas, the hollow points did a number on Kagi's calf. She only got clipped and it still screwed up her leg horribly. She almost bled out and it took over two hours of surgery to remove all the fragments. If it hit her in the thigh, maybe a foot higher, she wouldn't have made it. As it stood, it was only soft tissue damage. Likely she'd be back on her feet in a week, back to school in two, but it'd be at least six months until she made a full recovery.

 

On the other hand, the bullets with Toshi's name on them may have been deflected, but the majority of the kinetic energy had still transferred into his spine. Even if the force had been spread out, Toshi's back was a mottled blotch of bruises by the time he got to the hospital. There was a fear that the shots might have broken a rib or two, but an x-ray ruled out that possibility. As it stood, he was going to be admitted to the hospital for observation, at least over night. It was unlikely that there was any serious trauma, but there was no reason to take chances. It didn't hurt that his mother was a cop and insisted upon him staying. It also didn't hurt that over half the police force had turned out to investigate.

 

At least that's what it looked like from Toshi's point of view.

 

A drive by shooting in front of a school was news. This was getting a metric ton of attention. For that reason, people were howling for information, and as the old saying goes, 'Never let a good crisis go to waste'. There wasn't a politician in the city who'd let an opportunity like this pass them by. This resulted in the police force being placed under pressure to find out what happened. Reporters flocked to the school and started asking questions. Normally the names of minors wouldn't be released, but someone got the names of Toshi and Naora. A quick search turned up their family names. Another search using the family names turned up Kimi's shooting years previously.

 

Juicy.

 

The brother of a slain officer saving the life of the step daughter of the one who had her killed was just too good of a twist on an already hot topic. The story was blowing up before that particular bit of trivia hit the streets, but once the story started to get around, it took on a life of its own. There wasn't even an attempt to put the genie back in the bottle. The tabloid that reported the connection withheld the children's names, but not the families in question. They claimed it was related to the previous story involving Kimi's murder. That didn't matter because once it got on the internet and started to spread through social media...

 

There were no brakes on this train.

 

In the end, nobody died and only two students were injured, so this was turning into a feel good story. The relationship between the two families became a source of speculation and in no time the tale spun out of control. A picture of Toshi was dug up and his beatific face sure didn't slow things things down. By the time Toshi was to be let out of the hospital the next morning, he was already known as a hero. The story gained almost mythical properties because it just sounded nice, 'Yes, you killed my sister, but the Kimoto family always does the right thing. We even save those who wronged us'. People love poetically tragic irony.

 

But this wouldn't reach full fruition until tomorrow morning.

 

As it stood, Toshi was in his hospital bed dealing with three very unhappy family members. Asuka walked the shooting case's lead officer out of her son's hospital room. The officer in question was nodding in agreement as he stepped out, "Everyone from the mayor on down is clamoring for results. So trust me, we'll find the bitch." Asuka gave him fist bump, "See you at work on Monday." Then turned around to face her son with an expression like an oncoming storm. She didn't get to speak because as soon as the door was closed, Hinako started laying into her brother, "I swear if you pull anything like this again I am going to KILL YOU!"

 

Hirofumi frowned and raised a hand towards his daughter, "Dear, calm down he was only-"

 

Hinako jumped up and stood by Toshi's bed while glaring at her father, "NO! You weren't there! You didn't see him-" She stabbed a finger at Toshi, "HE RAN INTO THE LINE OF FIRE!!!" She kept pointing at Toshi as she looked to her mother, "He just broke into a sprint, RAN across the stairs, jumped over some guy, did some... some... parkour shit, then did a flying tackle to save Naora's life!" She turned back to Toshi, "WHY? Of all the scumbags on this planet, why did you have to save HER? You KNOW what she did to this family!"

 

Toshi looked at her with a flat expression, "No. I don't know. What did NAORA do to this family?"

 

Hinako sputtered for several seconds before she cried out, "I saw you shot in the back! TWICE! I thought YOU were DEAD!!!" She went up on her toes as she shouted at him, "Do you have any idea what it would do to this family if you got yourself Killed? FOR HER???" Toshi kept looking at her, waiting for her to let him get a word in edgewise, "You didn't answer my question." Hinako's whole body started to quiver with rage, "How-" Asuka grabbed Hinako from behind and pulled her back, "Keep your voice down!" Hinako glared at her mother. She glared back, "We are in a hospital! You get it under control. Right now!" Hinako bared her teeth at her mother and she looked like she was going to lay into her, but instead Hinako turned and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

 

Asuka sighed and looked at the door, then over at Toshi. Toshi jogged his head towards the direction of his retreating sister, "I'm fine. She's the one that needs you." Asuka narrowed her eyes at Toshi, as she started walking backwards towards the door. She pointed a finger at Toshi, "We are going to talk." Then turned and followed her daughter out, leaving Toshi and Hirofumi alone.

 

Toshi's father looked at Toshi with a sad look and a wistful sigh.

 

Toshi looked back, completely without expression, "I regret nothing. I did the right thing. If you gave me the same choice, I'd do the exact same thing all over again." Hirofumi nodded and spoke in an exasperated tone, "Yes. Of course. You did the right thing." He avoided Toshi's gaze, "Do you understand this... hurts?"

 

Toshi shook his head, "Not at all. Naora did nothing to us. You know how you feel at Kimi's loss? How do you think her family would feel to lose her?" Hirofumi snapped his head up, "It'd HURT." He narrowed his eyes as he spoke through gritted teeth, "And I would enjoy their pain." He locked eyes with Toshi for several moments before looking away.

 

"And then I'd feel horribly guilty."

 

Hirofumi sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "If I was in your shoes, I'd have let it happen." He stared at the floor, "Then regretted my choice and wish I could have changed it." Toshi stared at his father, then spoke softly, "Well, at least you are honest about it." Hirofumi let out a soft chuckle, "Yeah. You did the right thing. I suppose what hurts the most is that I don't think I could have done it." He looked up, "I think the problem is you made us ask ourselves if we would have done the same, and I don't think we like the answer, either way." Toshi thought about this for a while, but as he opened his mouth to speak, he was interrupted by someone shouting outside the door.

 

"OH YOU HAVE SOME NERVE-"

 

---

 

Toshi ignored his father's protests and hobbled as quickly as he could to get out into the hall, leaning heavily on his IV stand the whole way.

 

Right outside the door was a stand off. On one side was his mother and sister, as well as the lead detective. On the other was Naora, Midori, a small crowd of men and women in black suits and sunglasses, and what could only be described as a shrunken woman who not only appeared to be made out of beef jerky, but held herself as if she was equally hard to chew. The tiny, wrinkled, old woman was clearly the one in charge. Despite her age, her eyes looked bright and intelligent. She might have come across as someone's dotting great-grandmother, if not for her body language. She moved like a predator. Her steps were slow and deliberate in a way that said she didn't need to move fast.

 

For anyone.

 

Toshi's father would let Toshi know who this was as he muttered a name under his breath with equal parts awe and disgust, "Shizuya." The old woman seemed to catch the word and glanced towards the now open door, but immediately averted her eyes when she saw Toshi standing there in his hospital gown. She spoke with a voice that seemed oddly clear and strong for someone of her advanced age, "Thank you for coming to see us, but there is no need for you to leave your bed, young lord." Asuka glared at Toshi and ordered, "Get back in your room." She turned back to Shizuya, "You aren't talking to him anywhere." Toshi frowned, "Mother..." She glared back at Toshi. He looked more than a little disappointed, "Let's just get this over with." There was a tense moment as the two stared at each other, but Shizuya was the one to break the deadlock, "I will not take up much of your time." she interjected.

 

The woman leaned on her cane and bowed as deeply as she could towards Toshi. As she did, everyone in her group bowed at the waist as well, including Naora. The old woman spoke clearly, "You saved the life of my only granddaughter. I am in your debt." Toshi reflexive tried to return the bow, but the act of bending his back, even slightly, caused him to take a sharp intake of breath.

 

"Don't worry about it!" He said while wincing, "I just asked myself, what would my sister Kimi do and the answer was obvious." The old woman's face twitched for a second. Asuka blinked and looked surprised at her son's not so subtle jab. The old woman slowly straightened up, and everyone behind her followed suit. She leaned on her cane as she looked at Toshi, "Bad business, what happened to your sister. One fool makes a mistake and everyone has to suffer." Asuka glared, "Are you talking about my daughter?" Shizuya glared back, "I speak of my own." Toshi held up a hand, "Hey!" They both looked at him.

 

Toshi slowly lowered his hand, "I... was going to say, 'let it go', but that ain't happening, so..." It got quiet. He looked at Naora, "Glad to see you are okay." This got a glare from Hinako. Naora shuffled her feet, "I heard your computer got destroyed so I-" Asuka ground her teeth, "We are accepting NOTHING from you." The conversation crashed to a halt.

 

Toshi stared at his mom as she glared in return. Toshi looked like he had something he wanted to say, but thought better of it, "Ehhh..." Instead he turned back to Naora, "I don't think, given my mom's job, we could accept any compensation from you, BUT..." He held up a finger, "I believe we are now even."

 

Everyone looked at Toshi, confused, then they looked at Naora. She did the one eye big, one eye squinting thing as she tried to figure out what Toshi was talking about, "We're... even?" Toshi smirked, "I believe I owe you." He held up two fingers, "Twice." Naora furrowed her eyebrows, then raised them high, "Wait-"

 

Toshi hooked a thumb over his shoulder as he continued, "I took two bullets. I owed two favors. I think that's fair." Asuka looked at Hinako questioningly. Hinako shrugged to indicate, 'I got no clue'. Naora just stared at Toshi, then let out a single loud, "HA!" before slapping a hand over her mouth. Her eyes were as wide as dinner plates. She started to lowly shake her head as if she couldn't accept reality as it currently stood before her.

 

Abruptly Naora exclaimed, "Sure!" As she threw her hands up in the air, "Yeah! We're even! We're more than even! You..." She gaped at Toshi as she begun shaking her head in a disbelieving fashion, "You're mad. You are totally mad." She turned to Asuka, "Your son is insane." Asuka looked surprised at this, but far more telling was how she did not dispute Naora's claim. Naora pointed at Toshi while staring at Asuka, "You take him home and you watch over him because-" She turned back to Toshi, "This world isn't made for people like you."

 

Toshi smiled back at her, "See you on Monday?"

 

Naora let out another bark of laughter, but this seemed to be more like she was laughing at herself then Toshi, "Sure!" She forced a smile and spoke with forced cheerfulness, "See you on Monday!" She turned to the old woman. Naora's expression became increasing rattled. It was like she was adrift at night in a starless sea. Naora's hands aimlessly gestured about as she apparently tried to figure out how to speak. The old woman reached out a hand to briefly touch Naora. This had a calming effect on her granddaughter.

 

Shizuya turned to the lead detective, "I believe you need to speak to Naora to get her statement. She came to me for protection, which is why she left the scene. She will cooperate fully, of course."

 

The lead detective nodded, "I was just about to bring that up." Shizuya smiled softly, "Although, I am not sure how much help she will be." She paused as her expression became much more sly, "Oh. I asked some friends to do some investigating for me. Apparently a car exploded after driving over a cliff to the north of Tokyo. It had a similar description to the one that was seen at the shooting. You might want to look into that." The lead detective frowned, "I supposed I should do just that." The old woman smiled sweetly, "Just trying to help."

 

Shizuya turned around to leave, but whipped out her cane to hit Midori in the forehead. Naora's bodyguard let out a yelp and covered her head while looking confused, "Wha?" The old woman glared, "He's in a hospital gown! Show some respect and stop staring at him!" Midori looked embarrassed, mumbled an apology, and made sure to avoid looking in Toshi's direction. Toshi looked down at himself just to make sure that nothing fell open when he wasn't looking. At this, Asuka walked up to Toshi to practically shove him back into his room.

 

"There. It's over. Now back to bed with you."

 

 

 

The last thing Toshi saw as the door closed, was a concerned Naora looking back.