"Hehe, I suggest you don't do anything rash~" Chiaki smiled as she hooked her finger around the trigger, her muscles tensed. "Right now, I'm in a state of post-traumatic stress from my injury. If this gun accidentally goes off, the most valuable head in humanity might get blown apart like a watermelon."
With that, she pressed the pistol even firmer against the expressionless Mei head, the muzzle digging into the skin of her temple. She hid most of her body behind Mei, using her as a shield.
Injured...
Lin unconscious gaze drifted weakly toward Chiaki's other hand, which was clutching her abdomen.
Beneath that hand was an irregular stain, soaked dark by something.
Though Chiaki forced a relaxed expression, the muscles in her face twitched, and she let out a sharp intake of breath when her hand brushed the area beneath the stain.
She actually kidnapped Mei... but why...
Lin question was soon answered.
"Don't think about using a distraction to ambush me, either." The curl of Chiaki's lips was full of self-confidence, causing Kevin, who was staring at her with icy eyes, to freeze. "I have grenades inside my clothes. If I lose focus for a second, or if I fall, the pins will be pulled immediately."
Chiaki's pupils dilated and contracted under the stimulus of the pain in her abdomen. Cold sweat slid down her forehead, but she continued to chuckle, her gun-hand steady as a rock. "And these grenades are instantaneous. They're all your little girlfriend's own gear. You can ask her yourself if they are."
Kevin shifted his gaze to Mei face. Mei gave a microscopic nod, causing Kevin to clench his fists even tighter.
I see. No wonder no one came to stop Chiaki. They were likely threatened to stay back—if they approached, she would detonate the grenades and take Mei down with her...
Realizing the nature of the threat and knowing he couldn't move fast enough to ensure Mei wouldn't be caught in the blast, Kevin stared at Chiaki's smiling face as if he wanted to burn a hole through it. "What... do you want?"
"First, let him go. Second, a transport plane you can't track. Ten minutes."
Perhaps to save energy, Chiaki's words were extremely concise. After speaking, she tucked her body entirely behind Mei, shifting the muzzle of the pistol from the temple to the back of the head.
Kevin watched Chiaki coldly, then looked at Mei. A trace of worry surged in his eyes, but it vanished quickly.
He did not let go of Lin.
"Hey, hey, hey, is my voice too low—"
"Kevin probably considers me his everything."
Seeing Lin breath grow weaker and weaker, the smile remained on Chiaki's face, but her tone betrayed a hint of anxiety. It was then that Mei voice, calm to the point of extremity, reached her ears.
"But he is not a man who would lose all ability to think just for me."
"..."
Chiaki withdrew her nonchalant expression. She glanced at Mei, then at the motionless Kevin. She heard many footsteps behind her—the sound of Fire Moth soldiers approaching.
The traitor's identity had been determined. Even if she attacked Mei and threatened the others to stay back, as long as the evidence was presented to everyone, they would understand that she and Lin were in the right.
So, those soldiers should be the reinforcements on their side.
That's how it should be, right?
"Chiaki... don't... worry about... me..." Lin thought of this as well. He exhaled with great effort. Under the intersection of Kevin's cold gaze and Chiaki's complex look, his increasingly frigid body convulsed. "The evidence... tell the others... about their... betrayal..."
"..."
Kevin stood like a mountain, glancing at the dying Lin.
"..."
Mei remained expressionless, looking down from above at the two figures on the sea.
"Hahahaha... haha..."
Suddenly, without warning, as if a switch had been flipped, Chiaki laughed.
She laughed so freely.
Yet it was so...
Desolate.
The temperature in Kevin's eyes had dropped lower than his body temperature. Shards of ice were beginning to manifest on Lin body, stripping away his life force.
"The world never leaves room for sentimentality."
Mei turned around calmly, facing the black muzzle of the gun and Chiaki, who had lowered her head and let her smile fade.
"It is cruel, cold, and rational. That is why people like you always pass away early."
Chiaki took a deep breath. The bitterness at the corner of her mouth melted. Her finger gradually tightened on the trigger, and she whispered in a raspy, gentle voice: "Perhaps you're right."
Bang!
Kevin's pupils contracted. A panic he had almost forgotten reappeared on his face. He let go of Lin and lunged toward Mei, who was falling through the breach.
The moment he let go, the grappling hook device hidden under Chiaki's wrist fired, piercing Lin shoulder and dragging him back.
Whoosh—
Kevin caught Mei body. From the moment his fingers touched her, cold air began to erode her. Seeing Mei pained expression, he hurriedly put her down.
"Mei..."
"Phew... I'm fine..."
Mei calmed the terror of falling from a height after being shot. She shook her head at Kevin to soothe his emotions.
Her shoulder had been pierced by Chiaki's shot, but other than that, she had no wounds.
After checking her condition, Kevin immediately stood up to pursue Lin and Chiaki, but Mei stopped him, shaking her head once more.
The black-haired woman stared at the empty breach above, saying nothing.
"Ha... ha..."
Chiaki panted heavily, supporting an arm that felt as heavy as a thousand pounds. Leaning against the wall, she advanced one difficult step at a time.
The stain on her abdomen had expanded. The blood pouring from the torn wound soaked half her clothes, dragging her toward the abyss.
the light was so distant—so far that this short distance of dozens of meters felt like a natural chasm.
Lin could no longer speak. He felt as though his consciousness was no longer in his body. His blurred senses reminded him that his time was running out.
"Did you know? Back in high school, there was a girl who used to peek at you secretly."
"In her plain, ordinary life, you were probably the most special person she ever encountered. Never socializing, always alone, a solitary figure who looked like he was hiding a big secret no one else knew."
"Just like how you are misunderstood in Fire Moth, you were the same at school. People gossiped about you, but you went your own way without a care."
"Hehe, and your grades... you were always a few places above her. She had to study desperately just to get a rank that you surpassed so easily..."
Footsteps echoed behind them. Though the light was only a few meters away, she no longer had the strength to continue.
Chiaki's face, pale from blood loss, looked even more fragile now. She slumped to the floor, propping Lin up against the wall.
Was she reminiscing?
"Of course, you wouldn't have noticed her. Because she was too ordinary. Even if she stood right in front of you and looked at you, you probably wouldn't have seen her."
Who was that girl?
Lin muddled brain tried to remember, but just as Chiaki said, he couldn't recall such a person at all.
Someone too common.
A girl who could only disguise herself as others because she was so ordinary.
"I really... still..."
Warmth.
Lin, who wasn't supposed to feel any temperature, felt some warm liquid dripping onto the back of his hand.
Like a string of pearls breaking apart.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out, sounding as if it came from a very distant place.
Lin watched dully as the girl in front of him toppled to the side. A hole had abruptly appeared at her temple.
Dark blood sprayed into the air in a falling arc.
Her smile was frozen in that final moment, along with her tears, her warmth, the words she hadn't finished, and her everything.