Stockholm Syndrome [ chapter 10 ]
Title: Stockholm Syndrome
Author: hikaru_is_love
Pairing: Yabu Kota/OC
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU, Noir
Summary: What do you do when you begin to fall for the one holding you hostage?
“Yabu…”
The words were dry in my throat, scalded by the air I inhaled; the air that may as well have been flames. The sight before me induced the urge to scream but my lips refused to part, my body refused to move. There he was, collapsed on the floor covered in a pool of liquid crimson, Yabu - the resilient, seemingly indestructible Yabu - now looked fragile and broken. The ringing of the gunshot still echoed, piercing the silence, but seemed somewhat distance. The sound did not matter, nothing mattered except the fact that Yabu was…
I shook my head in defiance. No, he couldn’t be. Squeezing my eyelids shut, I imagined the scene. I could picture myself paralysed and oblivious to the tiny but deadly pellet of steel as it soared past my body and lodged itself into that of the person behind me. But why did it have to be Yabu…
My thoughts trailed off as I discovered that I had subconsciously stepped to him and now hovered over him. His eyes were closed as if he were in an endless slumber and his features relaxed in a peaceful expression. He couldn’t be…
I nearly jumped out of my skin as Yabu unexpectedly heaved with a cough. An odd feeling shrouded my insides as shock merged with relief. He was alive. I could only stare in my state of immobility as his features twisted in a grimace of pain. His hand clutched his shoulder in a vice-like grip. It was covered in blood in an instant and it was then that I realised how quickly he was losing it. He was alive, but it was only a matter of time before he really would die.
The world around me began to spin. I choked on my uneven breaths. My mind blanked in my state of panic as I could only stare at Yabu in a world of agony. He looked as if he were burning alive. As if I dwelled in the same world of pain, I cringed before reaching my arm out to console him. It was then that something began to nag me in the back of my mind.
Hikaru…
The gun…
Hikaru had the gun…
My neck snapped around, only for me to discover that Hikaru had vanished like a ghost. I did not have time to question his actions. All that seemed to matter in that moment was ensuring Yabu remained respiring and that his heart was still beating. Gently, I touched my palm to the top of his cold and shaking hand - the one covering the wound. He looked so pale, whiter than the moon in a clear night sky. His tremors of pain became less violent than those that preceded - and not because the pain was coming to cease.
An intense feeling of hopelessness flooded me as my mind felt as if it were to explode. What was I to do? I could not carry Yabu to a hospital, he would surely die before I reached it. I could not call an ambulance for I would then need to identify him and he would be convicted. Tears welled in my eyes as I rested my head on his left shoulder. I owed this man my life, how many times had he saved me from the loss of such a gift? How could I let his own fade away? I couldn’t without having Nakajima cuff him and throw him behind iron bars for life.
Yabu did not belong in a cage like an animal, he deserved to fly free like an eagle. I had never felt so helpless in my life, and it tore me apart to know that regardless of what I chose to do, I could not save Yabu for the ones who would arrest him were tied to the only ones who could treat him.
Treat him…
Suddenly, I shot up. The memory flashed in my mind and I began to wonder why I had not thought it before.
Takaki! Takaki could treat him. Takaki had treated me once before! My sudden surge of hope died in an instant. How was I going to get Yabu to Takaki? I looked down at his beautiful face only to see that he was losing the battle against the pain, losing the will to fight. I brushed my fingers through his hair and leaned close enough to whisper in his ear.
“Don’t give up, please…” I pleaded. “…You are going to make it, Yabu…”
His eyes shot open. My heart sank as I stared into them, orbs so often smouldering as if a flame burned within them. That flame was burning out. The look within his eyes was vacant and I imagined the world around him blurred as he eventually came to.
“Fight, Yabu, fight…” I urged him.
The flame within his eyes flickered for a moment before they shut completely. He had awakened, regrettably, only momentarily. I stared at him, angered at his own loss of hope. It was then that a fiery determination raged within me. I was not going to let him die.
My eyes hastily searched the room for something that could aid me in communicating with Takaki. A phone, a radio, a computer…
A phone!
Like lightning, my hands began to feel up the legs of Yabu’s pants in hope of discovering something. I patted until something square could be felt in his left pocket. Hope fired within me as I searched the pocket and found what I had searched for. My heart leaped as I pulled the object out the pocket only to have it sink upon the realisation that it was just a wallet.
Frustrated, I shoved my hand into the right pocket of his pants only to come across another object. I felt triumphant upon the realisation of what it was. A phone. Eagerly, I flipped it open and pressed various buttons until I was transferred to the ‘contacts’ screen and scrolled down, my heartbeat racing once I reached the ‘T’ section.
Takaki.
I pressed the green button and waited for the phone to ring. I shuddered as I realised that Takaki and Daiki had both been knocked unconscious at the time I was taken by Seven. Where were they now? I could only hope and pray that they were okay…
“Yabu! Where the fuck are you? Fucking Seven knocked us out cold and left us on the street and took the girl…”
“Takaki!” I screamed into the receiver, cutting him off completely. I had never been so happy to hear his rough voice, to hear that he was okay. “It’s Mizuki…”
“Mizuki?” Takaki’s voice was strained with shock through the speaker. “Why do you have Yabu’s…” He halted at the absurdity of the question. He knew why I had Yabu’s phone. “What happened?”
“S-seven…and Hikaru…” I stammered, unsure of where to start.
“Mizuki, stop! Explain later.” Takaki attempted to be firm, though a hint of panic was evident in his voice. “What happened to Yabu!” He demanded. “Wait a minute…what? Hikaru?”
I nodded, although I knew he could not see it. “He shot him, Takaki.” My voice wavered.
All I could hear through the speaker was the hitch of Takaki’s breath. “He’s…”
“No! He isn’t dead…but he will be if you don’t come soon!”
“Where are you?” Takaki was now getting desperate. “I’m guessing Seven’s hideout, is there a window? What do you see?”
I stood and walked to the other side of the room, momentarily hesitant to leave Yabu’s side. There was a window. “Takaki…” I spoke. “I can see…a JE convenience store, a bar called “Shots” and…” I squinted. “It looks like the McDonalds golden arches behind a couple of apartment blocks next to the convenience store.”
Takaki was silent on the other end as he was thinking, or discussing with Daiki who, I assumed, was also okay. “We know where you are.” Takaki spoke calmly. “You know that coat you are wearing? Open the window, break it if you have to, and wedge it somewhere like a flag so we know what building to go into.”
I nodded, hung up the phone and followed his orders before I returned to Yabu’s side. “Keep fighting, Yabu…” I whispered. “They’re coming.”
It was not long until a loud crash invaded the silence.
“MIZUKI!!!” Takaki called.
“UP HERE!”
Before I knew it, I was joined by Takaki and Daiki wielding a large leather bag that I supposed held all of Takaki’s surgical tools.
“You’re lucky, you know.” Takaki spoke softly. “They all ran, I’m guessing after Hikaru.”
At my confused looks he explained.
“You will see when we get out of here.” He said before rushing to Yabu’s side and checking his vital signs and the wound. After some time of examination, Takaki looked up at us. “He’s going to be okay, just leave the room for a moment while I treat him.” He ordered and Daiki and I obeyed.
To step through the door, to leave Yabu’s side was like committing treason against myself. I could not help but constantly glance over my shoulder in some odd delusion that he would wake at any moment. A shower of relief flooded me as I stood in the doorway of the room, slowly closing the door. A sigh escaped my lips as I heard the click of the door shutting. A sudden cool touch on my arm gave me Goosebumps and I turned slowly only to see Daiki.
“Thankyou…” He whispered.
An hour or so passed and the time went by in silence. The moments that came next passed like the fast-paced changing of seasons in a movie. Takaki retrieved Daiki and I and explained Yabu’s condition in a blur of insignificance. I was unaware of all that escaped his lips due to my fixation on the one behind him. Yabu still lay on the floor, but he stirred. I pushed past Takaki, still elucidating, and moved to him. His eyes fluttered open. I could not breathe for I was captivated by him. The desire to reach out and touch him surged through me, just to determine whether or not it was real; that he truly was alive. Only once he was in a sitting position did he notice the bandages that covered his right shoulder. His eyes widened.
“That bastard…” He muttered.
He tilted his head up and unintentionally locked eyes with me. The fire within them flickered for a moment. Abruptly, he twisted his head only to see Takaki and Daiki standing behind me before locking his eyes with me again. For a brief second, his eyes turned as black as his brother’s.
“They were right.” He whispered in an icy tone. “If I had you leave earlier, we could have avoided this…”
“Yabu!” Takaki interrupted in disbelief. “I just can’t believe…How could you…After all you went through to protect her…” Takaki was almost at a loss of words. “She saved your life.”
Yabu’s harsh expression softened.
“Even I can give her respect for what she did.” Takaki muttered. “Throw away your pride, if it weren’t for her you would be dead…”
“I know…” Yabu sounded defeated. He then brought up another matter of concern. “I just can’t believe my brother, joining forces with Seven…the enemy!”
Daiki scoffed. “Yeah, but it didn’t last long…”
“Why aren’t I surprised…” Yabu murmured. He looked up at me, a sincere look of apology in his eyes. “Then he asks for them to kidnap Mizuki and disguise it as an exchange.” His eyes were that deep, smouldering brown once more. The flame within them had been re-ignited. “And then he used you to pull me in so he could kill me…” The last two words were spoken in a whisper. He seemed to still be absorbing the fact that his own brother had just attempted to murder him.
“How did you know to come here?” Daiki pondered aloud rather than questioned.
Yabu smirked. “I called you, both of you, but you didn’t answer.” His eyes glistened in the moonlight pouring through the window across the room. “I just assumed the worst.”
This answer did not seem to satisfy Daiki.
“But how did you know she was here?”
The fire in his eyes sparked once more. “It’s a long story, and we don’t have time - we have to get out before Seven gets in.”
The others nodded in agreement. Yabu struggled momentarily when he attempted to walk. He, Takaki and Daiki remained silent as they stepped closer toward what seemed to be the exit of the building. That was when I saw something that caused me to stop dead in my tracks.
A Seven member - what was his name? Chinen…his frame was spread-eagled on the floor, pale as the snow that blanketed the streets outside. Blood stained his chest. His eyes remained wide open, he seemed to have become the ghost he so resembled in an instant. A rush of pity rippled throughout me, the boy was so young. He looked like such an angel, and now…
A single tear stained my cheek. Kneeling by his side, my fingers hovered over his heavy lids and closed them. He now looked in peace. I guessed he had run into the path of the same gun as Yabu, except he was not so lucky. My gaze lingered on the wound as I guessed the possible bullet trajectory - straight through the heart. The only comfort I had was that he had not experienced pain - he had gone quickly. Something pressed on my shoulder: Yabu’s hand as he stared down at me with a look that suggested we should leave.
With a hesitant nod, I left the young boys side and joined Yabu’s. As we stepped through the door, I felt a chill roll down my spine the way it always did when something horrible occurred. I shivered with the knowledge that my instincts were not misleading. After I clicked my seatbelt in Takaki’s car, I shut my eyes; wishing the disturbing image of the young Chinen away. As the car smoothed to a halt, my eyes pried open. The first thing my eyes fixed upon was a large yew tree in the park to the right of the road.
__________________________
Now before you get angry at the seemingly stupid ending, the yew tree DOES symbolize something...
Sorry it took longer than expected to get this chapter up. My internet was going really slow (I managed to use up all my broadband time) so only today did I muster the patience to wait for the page to load. For this same reason, it may take me a while to respond to all of your comments to this chapter and the previous one.
Author: hikaru_is_love
Pairing: Yabu Kota/OC
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU, Noir
Summary: What do you do when you begin to fall for the one holding you hostage?
“Yabu…”
The words were dry in my throat, scalded by the air I inhaled; the air that may as well have been flames. The sight before me induced the urge to scream but my lips refused to part, my body refused to move. There he was, collapsed on the floor covered in a pool of liquid crimson, Yabu - the resilient, seemingly indestructible Yabu - now looked fragile and broken. The ringing of the gunshot still echoed, piercing the silence, but seemed somewhat distance. The sound did not matter, nothing mattered except the fact that Yabu was…
I shook my head in defiance. No, he couldn’t be. Squeezing my eyelids shut, I imagined the scene. I could picture myself paralysed and oblivious to the tiny but deadly pellet of steel as it soared past my body and lodged itself into that of the person behind me. But why did it have to be Yabu…
My thoughts trailed off as I discovered that I had subconsciously stepped to him and now hovered over him. His eyes were closed as if he were in an endless slumber and his features relaxed in a peaceful expression. He couldn’t be…
I nearly jumped out of my skin as Yabu unexpectedly heaved with a cough. An odd feeling shrouded my insides as shock merged with relief. He was alive. I could only stare in my state of immobility as his features twisted in a grimace of pain. His hand clutched his shoulder in a vice-like grip. It was covered in blood in an instant and it was then that I realised how quickly he was losing it. He was alive, but it was only a matter of time before he really would die.
The world around me began to spin. I choked on my uneven breaths. My mind blanked in my state of panic as I could only stare at Yabu in a world of agony. He looked as if he were burning alive. As if I dwelled in the same world of pain, I cringed before reaching my arm out to console him. It was then that something began to nag me in the back of my mind.
Hikaru…
The gun…
Hikaru had the gun…
My neck snapped around, only for me to discover that Hikaru had vanished like a ghost. I did not have time to question his actions. All that seemed to matter in that moment was ensuring Yabu remained respiring and that his heart was still beating. Gently, I touched my palm to the top of his cold and shaking hand - the one covering the wound. He looked so pale, whiter than the moon in a clear night sky. His tremors of pain became less violent than those that preceded - and not because the pain was coming to cease.
An intense feeling of hopelessness flooded me as my mind felt as if it were to explode. What was I to do? I could not carry Yabu to a hospital, he would surely die before I reached it. I could not call an ambulance for I would then need to identify him and he would be convicted. Tears welled in my eyes as I rested my head on his left shoulder. I owed this man my life, how many times had he saved me from the loss of such a gift? How could I let his own fade away? I couldn’t without having Nakajima cuff him and throw him behind iron bars for life.
Yabu did not belong in a cage like an animal, he deserved to fly free like an eagle. I had never felt so helpless in my life, and it tore me apart to know that regardless of what I chose to do, I could not save Yabu for the ones who would arrest him were tied to the only ones who could treat him.
Treat him…
Suddenly, I shot up. The memory flashed in my mind and I began to wonder why I had not thought it before.
Takaki! Takaki could treat him. Takaki had treated me once before! My sudden surge of hope died in an instant. How was I going to get Yabu to Takaki? I looked down at his beautiful face only to see that he was losing the battle against the pain, losing the will to fight. I brushed my fingers through his hair and leaned close enough to whisper in his ear.
“Don’t give up, please…” I pleaded. “…You are going to make it, Yabu…”
His eyes shot open. My heart sank as I stared into them, orbs so often smouldering as if a flame burned within them. That flame was burning out. The look within his eyes was vacant and I imagined the world around him blurred as he eventually came to.
“Fight, Yabu, fight…” I urged him.
The flame within his eyes flickered for a moment before they shut completely. He had awakened, regrettably, only momentarily. I stared at him, angered at his own loss of hope. It was then that a fiery determination raged within me. I was not going to let him die.
My eyes hastily searched the room for something that could aid me in communicating with Takaki. A phone, a radio, a computer…
A phone!
Like lightning, my hands began to feel up the legs of Yabu’s pants in hope of discovering something. I patted until something square could be felt in his left pocket. Hope fired within me as I searched the pocket and found what I had searched for. My heart leaped as I pulled the object out the pocket only to have it sink upon the realisation that it was just a wallet.
Frustrated, I shoved my hand into the right pocket of his pants only to come across another object. I felt triumphant upon the realisation of what it was. A phone. Eagerly, I flipped it open and pressed various buttons until I was transferred to the ‘contacts’ screen and scrolled down, my heartbeat racing once I reached the ‘T’ section.
Takaki.
I pressed the green button and waited for the phone to ring. I shuddered as I realised that Takaki and Daiki had both been knocked unconscious at the time I was taken by Seven. Where were they now? I could only hope and pray that they were okay…
“Yabu! Where the fuck are you? Fucking Seven knocked us out cold and left us on the street and took the girl…”
“Takaki!” I screamed into the receiver, cutting him off completely. I had never been so happy to hear his rough voice, to hear that he was okay. “It’s Mizuki…”
“Mizuki?” Takaki’s voice was strained with shock through the speaker. “Why do you have Yabu’s…” He halted at the absurdity of the question. He knew why I had Yabu’s phone. “What happened?”
“S-seven…and Hikaru…” I stammered, unsure of where to start.
“Mizuki, stop! Explain later.” Takaki attempted to be firm, though a hint of panic was evident in his voice. “What happened to Yabu!” He demanded. “Wait a minute…what? Hikaru?”
I nodded, although I knew he could not see it. “He shot him, Takaki.” My voice wavered.
All I could hear through the speaker was the hitch of Takaki’s breath. “He’s…”
“No! He isn’t dead…but he will be if you don’t come soon!”
“Where are you?” Takaki was now getting desperate. “I’m guessing Seven’s hideout, is there a window? What do you see?”
I stood and walked to the other side of the room, momentarily hesitant to leave Yabu’s side. There was a window. “Takaki…” I spoke. “I can see…a JE convenience store, a bar called “Shots” and…” I squinted. “It looks like the McDonalds golden arches behind a couple of apartment blocks next to the convenience store.”
Takaki was silent on the other end as he was thinking, or discussing with Daiki who, I assumed, was also okay. “We know where you are.” Takaki spoke calmly. “You know that coat you are wearing? Open the window, break it if you have to, and wedge it somewhere like a flag so we know what building to go into.”
I nodded, hung up the phone and followed his orders before I returned to Yabu’s side. “Keep fighting, Yabu…” I whispered. “They’re coming.”
It was not long until a loud crash invaded the silence.
“MIZUKI!!!” Takaki called.
“UP HERE!”
Before I knew it, I was joined by Takaki and Daiki wielding a large leather bag that I supposed held all of Takaki’s surgical tools.
“You’re lucky, you know.” Takaki spoke softly. “They all ran, I’m guessing after Hikaru.”
At my confused looks he explained.
“You will see when we get out of here.” He said before rushing to Yabu’s side and checking his vital signs and the wound. After some time of examination, Takaki looked up at us. “He’s going to be okay, just leave the room for a moment while I treat him.” He ordered and Daiki and I obeyed.
To step through the door, to leave Yabu’s side was like committing treason against myself. I could not help but constantly glance over my shoulder in some odd delusion that he would wake at any moment. A shower of relief flooded me as I stood in the doorway of the room, slowly closing the door. A sigh escaped my lips as I heard the click of the door shutting. A sudden cool touch on my arm gave me Goosebumps and I turned slowly only to see Daiki.
“Thankyou…” He whispered.
An hour or so passed and the time went by in silence. The moments that came next passed like the fast-paced changing of seasons in a movie. Takaki retrieved Daiki and I and explained Yabu’s condition in a blur of insignificance. I was unaware of all that escaped his lips due to my fixation on the one behind him. Yabu still lay on the floor, but he stirred. I pushed past Takaki, still elucidating, and moved to him. His eyes fluttered open. I could not breathe for I was captivated by him. The desire to reach out and touch him surged through me, just to determine whether or not it was real; that he truly was alive. Only once he was in a sitting position did he notice the bandages that covered his right shoulder. His eyes widened.
“That bastard…” He muttered.
He tilted his head up and unintentionally locked eyes with me. The fire within them flickered for a moment. Abruptly, he twisted his head only to see Takaki and Daiki standing behind me before locking his eyes with me again. For a brief second, his eyes turned as black as his brother’s.
“They were right.” He whispered in an icy tone. “If I had you leave earlier, we could have avoided this…”
“Yabu!” Takaki interrupted in disbelief. “I just can’t believe…How could you…After all you went through to protect her…” Takaki was almost at a loss of words. “She saved your life.”
Yabu’s harsh expression softened.
“Even I can give her respect for what she did.” Takaki muttered. “Throw away your pride, if it weren’t for her you would be dead…”
“I know…” Yabu sounded defeated. He then brought up another matter of concern. “I just can’t believe my brother, joining forces with Seven…the enemy!”
Daiki scoffed. “Yeah, but it didn’t last long…”
“Why aren’t I surprised…” Yabu murmured. He looked up at me, a sincere look of apology in his eyes. “Then he asks for them to kidnap Mizuki and disguise it as an exchange.” His eyes were that deep, smouldering brown once more. The flame within them had been re-ignited. “And then he used you to pull me in so he could kill me…” The last two words were spoken in a whisper. He seemed to still be absorbing the fact that his own brother had just attempted to murder him.
“How did you know to come here?” Daiki pondered aloud rather than questioned.
Yabu smirked. “I called you, both of you, but you didn’t answer.” His eyes glistened in the moonlight pouring through the window across the room. “I just assumed the worst.”
This answer did not seem to satisfy Daiki.
“But how did you know she was here?”
The fire in his eyes sparked once more. “It’s a long story, and we don’t have time - we have to get out before Seven gets in.”
The others nodded in agreement. Yabu struggled momentarily when he attempted to walk. He, Takaki and Daiki remained silent as they stepped closer toward what seemed to be the exit of the building. That was when I saw something that caused me to stop dead in my tracks.
A Seven member - what was his name? Chinen…his frame was spread-eagled on the floor, pale as the snow that blanketed the streets outside. Blood stained his chest. His eyes remained wide open, he seemed to have become the ghost he so resembled in an instant. A rush of pity rippled throughout me, the boy was so young. He looked like such an angel, and now…
A single tear stained my cheek. Kneeling by his side, my fingers hovered over his heavy lids and closed them. He now looked in peace. I guessed he had run into the path of the same gun as Yabu, except he was not so lucky. My gaze lingered on the wound as I guessed the possible bullet trajectory - straight through the heart. The only comfort I had was that he had not experienced pain - he had gone quickly. Something pressed on my shoulder: Yabu’s hand as he stared down at me with a look that suggested we should leave.
With a hesitant nod, I left the young boys side and joined Yabu’s. As we stepped through the door, I felt a chill roll down my spine the way it always did when something horrible occurred. I shivered with the knowledge that my instincts were not misleading. After I clicked my seatbelt in Takaki’s car, I shut my eyes; wishing the disturbing image of the young Chinen away. As the car smoothed to a halt, my eyes pried open. The first thing my eyes fixed upon was a large yew tree in the park to the right of the road.
__________________________
Now before you get angry at the seemingly stupid ending, the yew tree DOES symbolize something...
Sorry it took longer than expected to get this chapter up. My internet was going really slow (I managed to use up all my broadband time) so only today did I muster the patience to wait for the page to load. For this same reason, it may take me a while to respond to all of your comments to this chapter and the previous one.