Broken Wings

Chapter 8: Sky Flowers

"Len! Get your sister and run!" Miku shouted.

Len looked at Miku in surprise. Was she insane?! "What are you going to do!?" he said, "We need to call the cops or something! That woman's gotta be a terrorist or something!"

Miku looked at the crowd of collapsed people, writhing in pain. "Maybe she used a nerve gas or something dangerous like that-"

Another loud whistling filled the air. Miku held up her paper umbrella and grabbed Len close to her body. As he heard it explode and saw the shower of sparks, he expected it to burst into flames... but there wasn't even a hint of heat.

And he became aware of a bizarre melody zig-zagging through his head. "Len! Please!" Miku begged, "I don't want either of you to get hurt!"

"Miku... do you know what's going on!?"

"MIKU! LEN! Where are you?!"

Len heard Kaito's voice in the crowd. Miku began to run towards him. Len hoped the dangerous person wasn't about to attack a second time, but he didn't want to look back as he laid eyes on his frightened sister....

Gakupo's wings were out in seconds after the explosion slammed into the shield Luka had swiftly created over the pair of them. "To ruin such a wonderful place as this!" he cursed.

All around them, they were the only two people still conscious. "So the sparks from the fireworks are knocking them out... ha! A clever strategy!"

"We need to find the box!" Luka said, "If you think you can take her, I'll start looking around! Maybe it's under the stage?!"

As a wave of fireworks flew through the air, Luka gasped as she realized they were about to hit Miku and Len...

"Len, noooo!" Rin shouted as an explosion surrounded her brother.

But as the smoke cleared, she saw a glowing white shield of light surrounding Len and Miku. She could hear Kaito's singing voice in the air, but as she looked up to him, she saw he appeared motionless aside from his extended hand.

The shield vanished as Miku grabbed Len and ran over to Kaito. "Kaito-niisan... what did you just do?" Rin said, fear in her voice.

"No way, you've got to tell us what's going on! How did you just do that?!" Len protested.

Rin gasped as she saw a winged form zoom through the air. As it alighted upon the stage, drawing a katana, she recognized him as Gakupo... with a pair of beautiful white wings. She couldn't see his face, but she could hear his words.

"How dare you desecrate a festival of joy with despair!" he shouted, "I'll grant you the battle you so desperately seek!"

"Kaito-niisan! Why does Gakupo have wings!?" Rin asked as she watched her friend charge straight for Mizki.

"He didn't waste any time..." Miku grumbled.

Kaito looked to Rin with a deathly serious gaze. "You and your brother need to go hide. Stay away from the fireworks."

His face softened as he tried to give her confidence. "Your big brother will fix this."

Rin wanted to trust Kaito... "Fine, but you guys owe us... a LOT of explanations!" Len said.

As the twins departed the stage grounds, Miku began to loosen her sword from her umbrella handle. "How do they make this look so easy in movies?!" she grumbled before the weapon finally clattered to the ground.

She picked up the hilt with both hands. "Kaito..." Miku said, "I think that the sparks from the fireworks are what she used on all these people..."